Polareyez was kind enough to submit this photo of their four day old solar brand.

Now this photo hits home for me because back in 2008 when I was but a mere 17 years old, My best pal and I were featured on ModBlog by Shannon. Here’s the link to the original post. When you get done cracking up at my baby face, you’ll notice that we’re also branding triangles on each other. Believe it or not that was one of the more significant modifications in my life. The triangle symbolized my friend and I taking in another friend on a special night. The branding was highly ritualized and we took the photos specifically to share with BME. It was a really important bonding experience with one of my best friends that we’ll always remember. I actually remember the day I saw it on ModBlog thinking that it was the most significant day of my life, and that I belonged to this community.

I’m sharing this little story with you because while this is not the most intense, extreme, eye catching, or conventionally “beautiful” piece of scarification…you can never tell the weight that something so simple can carry. My little triangle changed my entire life, and you can’t even see it today. In life you never seem to know when your turning points will be, but the thing that I love about this community is that you always have a reminder of where you’ve been.